As most Muslims are aware, the life example of the Prophet
Muhammad ()
is the basis for the beliefs and laws of Islam. His sayings, actions and
expressions are a fountain of guidance for the believers. The SahaabahKiraam
themselves ()
memorized each and every page of the life of the Prophet ()-
standing and sitting, traveling and living at home. From the conditions of his
household life to the political and economic laws he established, there is no
incident from the life of the Prophet ()
except that the Companions ()
took note of it and preserved its remembrance- some by pure memory and others by
writing it down. After them, the Taabi’een and their followers
continued this process of memorizing and compiling the hadeeth to the
point that by the second century Hijri, publication of entire books and
writings of hadeeth was widespread. It is because of those times that
Muslims today have a picture of the entire way of life of the Prophet ()
laid out for them.

The
greatscholars and legislators of
the ummah dedicated their entire lives to acquiring the knowledge of hadeeth.
They used to travel thousands of miles just to learn one hadeeth. Nothing
would deter or hinder them from their search for hadeeth- they would even
narrate hadeeth from their own students. These scholars memorized and
compiled books of hadeeth and established an entire science around hadeeth
and the biography of narrators (‘ilm-ur-rijaal: “the study of
men”). In order to fully understand the greatness of their achievement and its
value for Islam, one only has to consider what would be the state of the ummah
if such narrations had not been collected and preserved- what a great foundation
of the deen would have been missing.

The purpose of this small booklet is to provide an
overview of the importance, history and study of hadeeth. This summary
barely touches the surface of the sciences of hadeeth. As such it should
be kept in mind that understanding of the intricacies and details of hadeeth
and the rulings derived therefrom requires intense and extensive study from a
reliable Muslim scholar.

Allah has
summarized in a concise and beautiful way in the Qur’aan the basic foundations
of Islam. Without the explanation and elucidation provided by the hadeeth,
however, there is no other way to gain understanding of the details of all such
rulings. The prophetic ahadeeth provide Muslims with the practical
actions necessary for implementing the Qur’aanic injunctions. For example,
words like salaah, zakaah, tayammum, hajj and ‘umrah
each have a literal meaning in Arabic which is somewhat different from their
meaning as used by the Shari’ah- without the hadeeth of the
Prophet (),
there would be no way to tell what the Shar’i meanings of such words
are.

“Surely there is in the Messenger of Allah a most beautiful example for
you…”
(Surah Ahzaab, Ayah 21)

From these blessed verses, it is clear that obeying
the rulings of the Prophet ()
and following his actions is obligatory on every Muslim up till the Day of
Judgment. The question then is how can people who come after the Prophet ()
know what his sayings and actions were. Allah sent the Prophet ()
as an example for us- how else is it possible that we model our lives on his
life without the existence of hadeeth? Just as the Prophet ()
himself was a direct example for the Sahaabah (),
who took guidance from him in person, in the same way the hadeeth provide
this guidance to us. For if one does not accept the guidance given by the hadeeth,
the hujjat established by Allah will
be incomplete. Allah not only sent the Qur’aan for guidance- He also sent with
it a Messenger ()
whose obedience and following has been made necessary as well, and again,
without the hadeeth there is no other way to know the sayings and actions
of the Prophet Muhammad ().

If one does not accept the hadeeth, then
not only is one prevented from acquiring the guidance given by the Prophet (),
but one will also have an incomplete understanding of the rulings given in the
Qur’aan. Allah establishes
that He has sent the Prophet Muhammad ()
to explain the meanings of the Qur’aan and to teach their implementation:

“And We have revealed upon you the dhikr, that you may explain to the
people what has been revealed for them.”
(Surah Nahl, Ayah 44)

“And that he (the messenger) may teach them the Book and Wisdom.”
(Surah Baqarah, Ayah 129)

Some people may argue that the meanings of the
verses and the knowledge of the “Book” and “Wisdom” was only necessary
upon the Companions. However, Islam is not only for the Sahaabah ().
Rather, until the Day of Judgment, it is the religion for all the people and
thus, the people need to know the same wisdom that the Sahaabah needed to
know. Furthermore, just as the Sahaabah needed the Prophet ()
to explain and elucidate the meanings of the Qur’aan for them, even though
they themselves were of sterling character, those people who come afterwards are
lesser in quality of belief and understanding than the first generation. Thus,
they will be even more needy of such explanation. Thirdly, Allah has said in the
Qur’aan:

“He it is Who has sent among the unlettered nations a prophet from among
themselves, who recites His signs to them and purifies them, and teaches them
the Book and Wisdom, even though they were, before that, in manifest Error. And
also to others after them who have not yet joined them…”(Surah Jumu’ah, Ayah 2)

From this verse it is clear that the Prophet ()
was sent not only to teach the Qur’aan to the Sahaabah ()but also for those Muslims who would come after them. Thus, it cannot be
argued except that just as the Prophet ()
was a guidance and example for the Sahaabah, so he is for all the Muslims
up till the Last Day. If this were not the case, then there is no other way that
prophecy of the verse above would be fulfilled.

Just think for yourself, that if one only tried to follow
the Qur’aan, then how would one determine that the word salaah refers
to that procedure that is familiar to all Muslims from the time the adhaan
is given until the imaam says the salaam. Similarly, words like Hajj,
Zakaat are only mentioned briefly in the Qur’aan to establish their
performance. How else, other than the hadeeth, can one determine the
detailed rulings, procedures and etiquettes of these and all other actions in
the life of a Muslim?

The complete understanding of the rulings of Qur’aan is
only gained through the guidance of the Prophet ().
During the period of revelation, the Sahaabah ()obtained such guidance directly from his blessed tongue. For those Muslims
coming later, the hadeeth provide the same function.

Just as the Prophet Muhammad ()
was sent to explain the meanings of certain words of the Qur’aan, he was also
sent to teach certain rules of the Shari’ah which are not even
mentioned in the Qur’aan. In this regard, Allah has
said:

“… that he may make lawful for you the good things and make unlawful for you
the evil things.”
(SurahA’raaf, Ayah 157)

Some things that the Messenger of Allah ()
made halaal or haraam are not otherwise mentioned in the Qur’aan.
Only in the hadeeth can one find their mention. Without accepting the
proof of hadeeth, we would remain with an incomplete picture of the way
of life that Allah has established for us.

Even to understand the literal meaning of verses in
the Qur’aan, the hadeeth are necessary. This is because certain verses
were revealed for a particular situation or in response to some specific
question or statement of the non-believers and hypocrites. Sometimes a verse
referred to an incident that would happen later or some verses came down to
correct or support the actions of the Companions ().
Thus, without the knowledge of the reason for revelation of such verses (asbaab
an-nuzool), it is not possible to understand their meaning correctly.
Without accepting the hadeeth, it is impossible that one will be
able to practice upon the teachings of the Qur’aan.

Another argument of those ignorant people who reject
the hadeeth is that the collection of hadeeth only started
hundreds of years after the death of the Prophet ().
Thus, they claim the books of hadeeth are not authentic. However, this
claim is entirely baseless because the memorization and writing down of the hadeeth
was begun during the very lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad ()
and continued in every generation with no exception.

During the blessed time of the Prophet ()
many Sahaabah ()started to preserve in writing the ahadeeth. Imaam Bukhaari ()
mentions a tradition in his Saheeh that at the time of the liberation of
Makkah, the Prophet ()
gave a long khutbah. Afterwards, a man from Yemen requested him:“Have it written down for me, Oh Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet ()
then gave the order:“Write it
for so-and-so.”

In the same way, Hadrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn
al-‘Aas ()
was given a general order and permission to write down hadeeth:

“On the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ()
who said: I used to write down everything that I heard from the Messenger of
Allah ()
in order to preserve it. The Quraysh used to stop me and say: Do you write
everything you hear from him, even though the Messenger of Allah ()
is a man and he talks in anger and pleasure? So I stopped my writing and
mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah ().
He ()
indicated with his finger to his mouth and said: ‘Write it! For by the One in
Whose Hand is my soul, nothing except Truth (Haqq) comes out from
it.’”

Hadrat Abu Hurairah ()
also mentioned the writing down of hadeeth that was done by Hadrat
‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas ():

“There is no companion of the Prophet ()
who related more hadeeth than myself except for that which came from
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr, for he used to write it down and I did not write it
down.”

From these narrations, it is clearly established that
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ()
maintained a large written collection of hadeeth. Because of the close
proximity that Abu Hurairah ()
used to keep with the Prophet (),
he himself was able to memorize hadeeth very easily and thus did not need
to write them down. However, he was still in possession of some written pages of
the hadeeth of the Prophet ().
‘Amr ibn Umayyah reported:

“A hadeeth was narrated to Abu Hurairah ()
and so he took me by the hand to his house and showed us books of hadeeth of
the Prophet ()
and he said: ‘This is what is written down with me.’ ”

Thus, one can see that even Abu Hurairah ()
eventually had all his narrations of hadeeth written down. Haafiz
Ibn Hajar ‘Asqalaani ()
says that Abu Hurairah ()
did not write down any hadeeth during the period of revelation. However
after the passing of the Prophet (),
he wrote down the hadeeth or had someone write them all down for him.

Hadrat Anas ()
used to write down hadeeth and read them back to the Prophet ()
as mentioned in a narration by Qataadah. Hadrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ()
also used to write down and keep pages of hadeeth:

“It is related about ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ()
that as he used to go out to the market, he would look in his books. And the
narrator confirmed that these books were books of hadeeth.”

Besides these individual examples, there is also evidence
that it was common among the Sahaabah ()
to write down hadeeth during the time of the Prophet ().
Thus, Hadrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ()
said:

“There used to be with the Messenger of Allah ()
people from his companions, and I was the youngest of them. The Prophet ()
said: ‘Whoever intentionally lies regarding me, then let him prepare to take
his seat in the Fire.’ So, when the people left, I said: ‘How do you people
relate so many hadeeth from the Prophet ()
when you have heard what he said? – [ie. you should be more cautious.]’ The
people heard this and laughed, saying: ‘O son of our brother, truly everything
that we have heard from him is with us in books.’”

From the traditions above, then, it is clear that from the
time of the Prophet ()
the Sahaabah Kiraam ()
used to write down and preserve his sayings and actions. And those instances in
which the Prophet ()
did not allow someone to write down some particular hadeeth were because
of special circumstances, such as the fear of confusing a hadeeth with
the Qur’aan.

After the passing of the Prophet (),
the Taabi’een began to gather and write the traditions from the Sahaabah
in a similar way. Hadrat Abu Hurairah (),
from whom 5,374 hadeeth have been narrated, taught those hadeeth
to countless numbers of students, who wrote down and memorized them and taught
them in turn to their students. In Musnad Daarimi it is mentioned that
one such student who wrote down hadeeth from Abu Hurairah ()
and preserved them was Basheer ibn Naheek. Besides other students, Kareeb wrote
down hadeeth from Hadrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas ()
who narrated 2,660 hadeeth. From Hadrat Anas (),
who also narrated over 2,000 hadeeth, it is mentioned in Musnad
Daarimi that Abaan used to write down and memorize his hadeeth.
‘Urwah ibn Zubayr used to write hadeeth from Ummul-Mu’mineen
‘Aa’ishah (),
who related 2,210 hadeeth.

In general, it was common for people to memorize hadeeth
from the Sahaabah. From the first century onward, numerous collections of
hadeeth were assembled. There was no single, combined, organized
collection of hadeeth- rather, the Taabi’een collected and
preserved any hadeeth that they could find. During the khilaafah
of Hadrat ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Azeez (),
he felt a great need for a reliable and complete arrangement of hadeeth.
Thus, he established a committee of well-known scholars to perform this task,
among whom were the great Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ibn Hazm, Qaasim ibn
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn ‘Ubaydallaah ibn
‘Abdullah ibn Shihaab Zuhri ().

Hadrat ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Azeez ()
arranged for the gathering of hadeeth from all different places and had
them written down. Ibn Shihaab Zuhri arranged and compiled those hadeeth.
In addition to gathering hadeeth, the chains of narrators (sanad)
were also meticulously preserved by az-Zuhri. Thus, he is often
known as the originator of the science of isnaad.

The students and contemporaries of Zuhri ()
continued and carried on this work after him. Thus, in the second century, one
of his students, Imaam Maalik ibn Anas (),
compiled the first major collection of hadeeth arranged in the order
similar to that common today. That book was called the Mu’atta.

Besides the Mu’atta of Imaam Maalik, the Imaam-e-A’zam
Abu Hanifah ()
also recorded his narrations in his Kitaab-ul-Aathaar. Besides these two
great works, other collections that were produced in the realm of hadeeth
during the second century were: Sunan Abul-Waleed (151H)[1],
Jaami’ Sufyaan Thawri (161H), Musannaf Abi Salamah (167H), Musannaf
Abi Sufyaan (197H) and Jaami’ Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyainah (198H). In the
third century, additional great compilations were produced by ash-Shaafi’ ()
in his Kitaab-ul-Umm (204H), Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal (241H), al-Jaami’
as-Saheeh of Bukhaari (256H), al-Jaami’ of Muslim (261H), Sunan
of Abu Dawood (275H), Jaami’ Tirmidhi (279H) and Sunan Ibn
Maajah (273H).

Thus, from the history of the development of the ummah,
it is clear that the work of collecting and preserving hadeeth in all
forms was practiced from the time of revelation itself up through the third
century and onward. By the third century, this process had coalesced into an
entire branch of study and the Sihaah Sitta (six reliable works of hadeeth)
had been compiled, providing a well-documented and well-arranged collection of
the hadeeth that had been narrated by the earlier generations of Sahaabah
and Taabi’een.[2]

Al-Jaami’ as-Saheeh li Bukhaari:
Imaam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel ibn Ibraaheem ibn al-Mugheerah
ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhaari ()
(194 – 256H) was born in Bukhara, Iran. At the age of ten he began acquiring
knowledge of hadeeth and at sixteen years old he went with his mother to Hajj.
He stayed in Makkah for two years and then went to Madinah, studying from the
great scholars of Islam. He also traveled to Egypt, Basra, Koofa, Baghdaad and
Syria. His greatest work, al-Jaami’ as-Saheeh, took 16 years to
complete. It is said that he collected some 300,000 to 600,000 hadeeth,
of which 200,000 he memorized himself, and of those he selected 7,275 which he
deemed to be the most reliable and authentic. The scholars of Islam have
unanimously labeled his collection as “the most authentic book after the Book
of Allah.”[5]

Al-Jaami’ as-Saheeh li Muslim:
Next in reliability to Saheeh al-Bukhaari is the work of Imaam
Abul-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj ibn Muslim al-Qushayriy an-Naisaaburiy ().
Born in 202 H. in Nisaabur, Iran, he died in 261 H. and was buried near the same
place. He also traveled widely and among his many works is his al-Jaami’ as-Saheeh
in which he selected about 4,000 hadeeth out of 300,000 he collected. Among both
his teachers and his students one finds the names of many great scholars of
Islam. Together with Saheeh al-Bukhaari, his collection is known as one of the
Saheehayn- “two authentic books.” The term muttafaqun ‘alayh (“agreed
upon”) indicates that a certain hadeeth is to be found in both collections.

Jaami’ Tirmidhi: Imaam Abu ‘Eesa
Muhammad ibn ‘Eesa at-Tirmidhi ()
was born in 209 H. in Tirmidh, Iran and he passed away in the same town in 279
H. In addition to his other books, he is most well-known for his collection of hadeeth
and for his Shamaa’il, a collection of traditions concerning the person
and character of the Prophet ().
His Jaami’ includes fewer hadeeth than the previous two above
(2,028) but is known for his critical remarks concerning the chains of narrators
and the points of differences between the four madhaahib. Among his
teachers were Imaams Bukhaari, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Dawood as-Sijistaani ().
He also traveled through Khuraasaan, ‘Iraq and Hijaz to collect his hadeeth.

Sunan Abi Dawood: Imaam Abu Dawood
Sulaymaan ibn al-Ash’ath Sijistaaniy ()
heard hadeeth from over three hundred scholars. He was born in Sijistaan,
Khuraasaan, near Afghanistan, in 202 H. and lived for 73 years. Known for a
strong memory and a penetrating mind, his collection is composed of 4,800
traditions selected from a half of a million which he wrote down. Previous to
his work, the collections of hadeeth were arranged in the manner of a Jaami’
(see below for definition). In his Sunan, he instead collected only
traditions related to the laws, rulings and legal questions of Islam and
arranged them by subject matter.

Sunan Nisaa’i: This fifth famous
collection of 5,761 hadeeth was compiled by Imaam Abu ‘Abdur-Rahmaan
Ahmad ibn Shu’ayb ibn ‘Ali Nisaa’i ().
He was born in another town of Iran- Nisa- in 215 H. and died in 303 H. His book
also mainly contains traditions related to legal issues of the Shari’ah.

Sunan Ibn Maajah: Imaam Abu ‘Abdullah
Muhammad ibn Yazeed ibn Maajah al-Qazweeniy ()
was born in Qazween, Iran in 209 H. and lived for 64 years. His compilation
contains some 4,000 hadeeth. The Sunans of Nisaa’i and Ibn
Maajah are somewhat more lenient in their criticism of the authenticity of hadeeth
than the previous books, but nonetheless they are among the most reliable
collections of hadeeth.

Having discussed the importance of hadeeth and the
brief history of collection, we will now discuss some of the technical details
related to the hadeeth.

There are two types of study of hadeeth: one
is ‘Ilmul-Hadeeth riwaayatan and
the other is ‘Ilmul-Hadeeth diraayatan. As for the first, it is the
study and knowledge of the sayings, actions, states, conditions and descriptions
of the Prophet ().
The second type is the study of narrators and those narrated to, and the
conditions of acceptability or rejection.

The word hadeeth itself, in the context of
Islam, refers to the sayings, actions, tacit approvals, character and
descriptions of the physical features of the Prophet ().
A hadeeth consists of two parts: the sanad, which is the chain of
names of people who have narrated the hadeeth through the generations,
and the matn, or the actual text and substance of the report. Often the
words hadeeth and sunnah are used interchangeably. Their meanings
are almost the same except that hadeeth is slightly more general as sunnah
does not refer to such things as the physical features of the Prophet ().
There are other words, such as “khabar” and “athar”,
which are often used synonymously with “hadeeth” but some scholars
also use them to indicate only certain types of hadeeth.

Below are listed some of the different types of hadeeth
that one may come across:

Marfoo’: That hadeeth which is
directly attributed to the Prophet ()
and tells of his actions, sayings or speech.

Mawqoof: That which tells of the
actions, sayings or speech of a Sahaabi.

Maqtoo’: That in which the
actions, sayings or speech of a Taabi’ee is described.

Muttasil or Mawsool:
That hadeeth whose chain (sanad) is not broken, eg. by missing the
name of a narrator.

Mu’allaq: That hadeeth from
the beginning of whose sanad some or all of the narrators’ names have
been dropped.

Mursal: That hadeeth whose last
narrator in the chain, ie. the Sahaabi’s name, is dropped. That is,
when a Taabi’ee directly narrates something about the Prophet ().

Mu’dal: Two consecutive
narrators have been dropped from the chain.

Munqati’ (bi
ma’nan akhass): More than two narrators are dropped consecutively in one
part of the chain, or two narrators are dropped consecutively in multiple parts
of the sanad.

Mudtarib: That in whose sanad
or matn additions or deletions exist. [That is, a hadeeth might be
transmitted along many chains and in one particular chain, there may be
additions or deletions to some part of the sanad or matn that is
found in the other transmissions.]

Mudarraj: That in which the narrator
added his own or some other sayings to the matn.

Shaadh: That hadeeth of a
narrator who has narrated something that is the opposite of what a narrator of
more reliability narrated. Its opposite is Mahfooz.

Munkar: That hadeeth of a weak
narrator who narrates something the opposite of a more authentic tradition.

Mu’allal: That hadeeth in
which there is a major, hidden defect, such as a mursalhadeeth
which is narrated as if it is mawsool.

Saheeh li dhaatihi:
That hadeeth whose chain of narrators is unbroken, every narrator is
reliable (‘aadil), well-known for memorization and preservation (dabt)
of hadeeth, and the hadeeth falls in neither of the categories of
the Shaadh or Mu’allal.

Saheeh li ghayrihi:
That hadeeth which has the same qualities as the previous one except for
the dabt of a narrator which may be slightly less reliable but that is
compensated for by the fact that the hadeeth is narrated from many chains
of people. [The word dabt refers to a narrator having a good grasp
of what he narrates as well as a sound memory and/or carefully kept books.]

Hasan li dhaatihi: That hadeeth
which has the qualities of Saheeh except that the dabt is not as
reliable and there are not enough other chains of narrations to raise it to the
status of Saheeh li ghayrihi.

Hasan li ghayrihi: That hadeeth
which is lacking in more than one quality required for the Saheeh but
this lack is again compensated for by the presence of other chains of
transmission of the same hadeeth.

Da’eef: That hadeeth
which is lacking more than one of the qualities of Saheeh and there are
not enough alternate chains to raise its status to Hasan.

Matrook: That hadeeth in whose chain
is a narrator known for lying.

Mawdoo’: That hadeeth
in whose chain is a narrator upon whom it is established that he fabricated hadeeth.

Ghareeb: That hadeeth
whose sanad is such that at some link in the chain, that narrator is
alone in narrating the hadeeth from the shaykh. [In each
generation, many people might have narrated the same hadeeth through
different chains. A ghareebhadeeth is one in which the number of
narrators of that hadeeth in one particular generation is only one.]

‘Azeez: That hadeeth in which
the number of narrators drops to two in one generation and is more than two in
the rest of the chain.

Mashhoor: That hadeeth which is
narrated from more than two chains in every generation. That is, in each
generation, at least three people narrated the hadeeth. Slightly less
than the number of a mutawaatir. This type of hadeeth and the
previous two are types of aahaad hadeeth.

Mutawaatir: That hadeeth
which is narrated from so many different chains in every generation that it is
impossible to suppose that anyone could have conspired to fabricate the hadeeth.

There are many different types of compilations of hadeeth,
each of which has gained a specific name. Some of these type of books of hadeeth
are:

Saheeh: That book whose compiler
indicated that he has only included Saheehhadeeth. For example, Saheeh
Bukhaari and Saheeh Muslim.

Jaami’: That book which includes hadeeth
categorized under the following eight categories: Siyar, Aadaab, Tafseer,
‘Aqaa’id, Futun, Ahkaam, Ishraat and Manaaqib.[6]
For example, Bukhaari and Tirmidhi.

Sunan: That book which only includes hadeeth
that are related to rules (ahkaam). For example, Sunan Abu Dawood
and Nisaa’i.

Musnad: That book which is arranged by
the order of the name of the Sahaabah who narrated the hadeeth.
For example, Musnad Imaam Ahmad.

Mu’jam: That book which is arranged
by the order of the shuyookh who narrated the hadeeth. For
example, Mu’jam Tabaraani.

Mustakhrij: That book in which the
compiler brings chains from other shuyookh besides the author of another
book to support the hadeeth of that author’s book. For example Mustakhraj
Abi Nu’aym on Bukhaari.

Mustadrik: That book which includes hadeeth
under various headings which another author has left out of his book. For
example, Mustadrik Haakim includes hadeeth that are not in the two
Saheeh but which Imaam Haakim has indicated as satisfying the conditions
for authenticity that were followed by Bukhaari and Muslim.

Risaalah: That book which only contains
hadeeth under the heading of one of the eight headings mentioned in the Jaami’.
For example, Imaam Ahmad’s book of Zuhd which falls under aadaab
and Ibn Jareer’s book of tafseer.

Juz: That smaller book which only
contains hadeeth about a particular subject. For example, Imaam
Bukhaari’s Juz Qira’ah Khalf al-Imaam.

Shah Waliyullah ()
has specified four ranks of books of hadeeth with regard to their
reliability, fame and acceptability. The first contains those books whose
reliability is strongly agreed upon. For example, Saheeh Bukhaari, Saheeh
Muslim, Mu’atta Imaam Maalik.

The second rank are close in fame and reliability to
the first. Most of the hadeeth in such books are either saheeh or hasan.
Some da’eefhadeeth may also be included but they are clearly
indicated. For example, Jaami’ Tirmidhi, and the Sunans of Abu
Dawood and Nisaa’i.

The third level are those books whose authors
preceded or were contemporaries of Bukhaari ()
and Muslim ().
The competence of these scholars is firmly established but in their collections
they also included da’eefhadeeth and even sometimes those which
were known to be fabricated.[7]
For example, Musnad Shaafi’i, Sunan Ibn Maajah, Musannaf
‘Abdur-Razzaaq, Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Sunan Daarimi, Sunan
Daaraqutni and Sunan Bayhaqi.

Fourthly, there are those books of the later scholars
which include hadeeth that are not found to be related by the scholars of
the early era. The reason for this might be that either the previous scholars
were not aware of those hadeeth or they left them alone because of some
defect (‘ilal). Some examples of such collections are Daylami, Abu
Nu’aym, Ibn ‘Asaa and others.

When the sanad of a hadeeth is the
subject of dispute or unreliability, it is called mat’oon or majrooh.
That are many types of hadeeth that fall in this category, discussed
above, such as Mudtarib, Munqati’, Mu’allal, Munkar,
Matrook and others. All such hadeeth are known as da’eef,
however they are of different ranks of weakness. In comparison to other types
for example, the matrook is one of the most deficient types of hadeeth.
It is possible that the sanad of one hadeeth may contain several
types of weaknesses at once, however its status remains da’eef
although its weakness increases. The purpose of mentioning this is that just
because a hadeeth is labeled as da’eef does not at all
imply it is fabricated. Only a hadeeth for which the chain of narrators
contains a fabricator is known as mawdoo’.

Sometimes, the muhadditheen have written
regarding a particular sanad: Laa yasihh (“it is not saheeh”).
This phrase is erroneously understood by ignorant people to mean that the hadeeth
is fabricated or rejected. However, in the terminology of the muhadditheen,
saheeh is not the opposite of a fabricated or rejected hadeeth.
Rather, those hadeeth which are not saheeh include Saheeh li
ghayrihi, Hasan and Da’eef. The meaning of the phrase
above is that the hadeeth is not Saheeh li dhaatihi. In summary,
the negation of something being Saheeh is not necessarily an indication
of its unreliability.

A ruling regarding the strength of a chain is based
on the reputation or reliability of a narrator. On the other hand, the matn
is judged according to different criteria. For example, it is possible that in
one chain a fabricator of hadeeth narrates a hadeeth which is
otherwise saheeh. Thus that particular chain will be labeled as Mawdoo’
(fabricated), however the hadeeth may well be transmitted reliably
through a different, acceptable chain. For example, regarding the hadeeth,
“The seeking of knowledge is obligatory…” Imaam Hanbal ()
mentions that this particular hadeeth through a certain chain of
narrators is fabricated. Allaamah Shamsuddeen Dhahabi ()
writes that the particular chain of the hadeeth is unreliable but the hadeeth
itself is supported by other reliable chains of transmission.

In the same way, a da’eefhadeeth is
so labeled because of a weakness in the particular sanad. So again, it is
entirely possible that a particularly unreliable narrator narrates a hadeeth
that is otherwise saheeh. That particular chain will be labeled as weak
but the ruling regarding the matn will not necessarily be the same. Imaam
Nawawi ()
says:

“The narrations of weak narrators may in themselves be saheeh,
da’eef or rejected. So the scholars write them down and present them to
those knowledgeable in this subject for clarification. And for those
knowledgeable in such ways it is easy for them to distinguish one type from
another. This is the meaning of Sufyaan Thawri ()
when he prohibited others from narrating from Kalbi. It was said: You yourself
narrate from him. He said: I know his truth from his falsehoods.”

No ruling can be based upon a mawdoo’hadeeth. Nor is it permissible to present such a hadeeth without
mentioning that it is fabricated. If a da’eefhadeeth
comes along several different chains of narration, its status can become
stronger. However, if one hadeeth comes from several different chains of
narration, which are all mawdoo’, the reliability of the
narration is not increased. This is because a multitude of bad never builds up
to produce good.

The types of matters, such as
permissibility/non-permissibility, whose rulings are established based on hadeeth
are four: (1) firmly established beliefs (‘aqaa’id) such as Tawheed,
Risaalah, the Beginning and the End, (2) more general beliefs such as
virtues of the prophets and angels, (3) rulings of law, (4) virtues and
descriptions of good deeds and other characteristics.

‘Aqaa’id Qat’eeyah: For
the establishment of a basic Islamic tenet of belief a mutawaatirhadeeth
is required.

‘Aqaa’id Zanniyah: For its
proof, a hadeeth aahaad is sufficient.

Ahkaam: A hadeeth saheeh is
required for establishment of a legal ruling, or at the least the hadeeth
must not be weaker than hasan li ghayrihi.

Fadaa’il wa Manaaqib: For this
type of subject hadeeth including those that are da’eef are
acceptable. Thus, Imaam Nawawi ()
said:

“The scholars of hadeeth have narrated (from weak
narrators) ahaadeeth relating to encouragement and discouragement,
virtues of good deeds, stories, piety,
good character, and others as long as there was no implication of a matter of halaal
or haraam. And narrating and acting upon such types of hadeeth,
except for the fabricated ones, is absolutely correct because the basic topic of
such hadeeth is established in the Shari’ah already. Thus, the
scholars do not reject any weak tradition unequivocally but they use it as long
as it is not a solitary hadeeth relating to a legal issue.”

It is clear from this statement that following and acting
upon da’eef hadeeth related to virtues and good deeds is acceptable. In
some cases, even da’eefhadeeth are used for establishment of
some rulings, after careful examination of the particular hadeeth. Thus
Imaam Nawawi ()
also states:

“The scholars from the muhadditheen and fuqahaa
and others say that it is permissible and even recommended to act upon hadeeth
da’eef in the realm of virtues and good deeds as long as it is not
fabricated. And as for legal rulings such as halaal and haraam and
trade and marriage and divorce, then it is not supportable except by a saheeh
or hasan, except if it is due to some careful examination [of the status
of a particular hadeeth which might otherwise be weak]. For example,
several weak hadeeth are used to support the undesireability of certain
types of trade and marriage.”

The first example of how the weakness of a hadeeth
may be strengthened is if the hadeeth is narrated through several chains,
so it achieves the status of hasan li ghayrihi. ‘Allaamah Sha’raani ()
writes:

“When a hadeeth da’eef is narrated
through many chains, the majority of the muhadditheen use it as a proof
and they augment it as saheeh sometimes and hasan other times.”

A second possibility is that one finds in the
statements of the mujtahideen some support for a hadeeth da’eef.
From such a statement, the weakness of a hadeeth may be lessened. Thus, Shaami
says:

“When a mujtahid draws judgments based on a hadeeth,
it is an indication of its being sound in his opinion.”

The third possibility is that one finds some support
for a hadeeth from the sayings of the people of knowledge. This also adds
to the reliability of a hadeeth. For example, regarding Tirmidhi’s
comment about a particular hadeeth: “This is a ghareebhadeeth,
we do not know of its chain of narration, except through this particular
individual, and the people of knowledge act upon it,” Mulla ‘Ali Qaari ()
explains:

“Nawawi said that its sanad is weak and Tirmidhi
desired to strengthen it by mentioning that the people of knowledge act upon
it.”

A fourth situation is that sometimes evidence supporting a hadeeth
is found in the actions of the righteous people. For example, the narration
which establishes Salaat-at-Tasbeeh is da’eef in itself but
Haakim and Bayhaqi have indicated the reason for strengthening of its position
as the fact that ‘Abdullah ibn Mubaarak ()
used to act upon this hadeeth. Writes Maulana ‘Abdul-Hayy:

“Bayhaqi says: ‘Abdullah ibnul-Mubaarak used to pray it
and the righteous people used to follow each other in performing it and thus is
support for the strength of this hadeeth marfoo’.”

Besides these ways, careful study and uncovering of
conditions may also allow for the support of hadeeth that are otherwise da’eef.

When there are several differing hadeeth on one
particular topic, the four madhaahib have each undergone a careful study
and analysis of the chains of such hadeeth in order to form rulings. In
the case of Imaam-e-A’zam (),
in such an event he tried as far as possible to satisfy every narration and if
it is not possible to fulfill two opposing narrations simultaneously, he picks
the one which is closer in spirit to Islam and the fundamental of the deen.
Imaam Shaafi’i ()
in such a situation takes the narration which is of the strongest and most
reliable sanad and gives ruling based on that one. Imaam Maalik ()
gave preference to those narrations which reflected what the people of Madinah
acted upon. And finally, Imaam Ahmad ()
based his decisions upon the actions of the early Muslims.

Among the Muslim ummah today, one
unfortunately finds people who go to extremes in regards to the status of hadeeth.
On the one hand are those who reject the legitimacy of the hadeeth in
part or whole. Such people tread the borderline of Islam because they are in
fact rejecting the authority of the Prophet ()
himself and they are not able to follow Quranic injunctions, as discussed in the
beginning of this article. At the other extreme are those people who think that
by reading Bukhari and Muslim, they have gained enough knowledge
to issue rulings on matters that have already been established a thousand years
ago by the madhaahib. The derivation of rulings from hadeeth is a
science that requires much more knowledge and grasp of Islam than an
English translation of the Qur’aan and the Sihaah Sitta.

In fact, the proper attitude for the average Muslim
is to have the goal of increasing and strengthening one’s belief by reading
and hearing the narrations of how the Prophet ()
and his Companions ()
lived their lives. Reading the hadeeth should have the effect of
increasing one’s resolve to act upon the Sunnah and the Shari’ah
of Islam, which has in turn been expounded in detail by the pious scholars of
the madhaahib. Attempting to go beyond this, without qualification,
redefining the rules established by a madhhab, will lead to nothing but
error and unnecessary division in the ummah. And Allah knows best.

May Allah grant all Muslims the ability to study and
follow the sunnah as it should be followed. And may Allah grant all
Muslims the strength of imaan to work together to establish the laws of
Islam as described in the Qur’aan and hadeeth and expounded by the
scholars of Islam. Aameen.

Most
of this booklet is based upon a translation by Nadeem Abdul Hamid of the
introduction to Jaami’ Tirmidhi by Allaamah Ghulam Rasool Sa’eedi,
Shaykhul-Hadeeth of Jaami’a Nu’maaniyah in Lahore. Material from other
sources was also added to provide more coverage of the subject matter.

Arabic text has not been verified with the originals.
If any mistakes are found, in the Arabic or otherwise, please forward the
correction to the publisher.